User Reviews

First, note that I don't actually know the product model year. There's not very much to find about this model online.

Functionally, this subwoofer is a bit lacking. The speaker pass-through has no high pass circuitry, so it's only a convenience if your amplifier doesn't have more than two speaker outputs. I plugged in one of my speakers through the passthrough (a pair of Klipsch Synergy B-10 monitors) and was able to play a 20hz tone to it no problem, so that's certainly the case.

The low-pass is also a bit high-reaching. It only turns down to 80, and the gradual slope means a lot of higher frequencies still come from the sub. It bottoms out around 40hz or so, so this is probably for the better. The auto power-off is nice, but I only use it as a precaution in case I forget to turn it off. I turn it off myself to save energy, since it waits a bit of a while (maybe 15 minutes or so) to turn off on its own.

Even still, I'm quite happy using this for music and games at my computer. I have it set up in a small, square-shaped room (one wall is slightly longer, but it's almost entirely a square) with the driver pointed in the corner. It's right in the middle of my two speakers, and right in front of my knees when in use. For this application, it has plenty of power and meshes well with my tiny speakers; they bottom around 60hz, so the sub plays in with them nicely. It's definitely bass-you-can-feel in this setting!

It doesn't sound /very/ fast, but I wouldn't call it sloppy, either. It's certainly musical, I've used it for jazz as well as pop and dubstep, and it renders upright bass and drums in a way that is pleasing to me. It's also been good for games; it adds very pleasing low end to the music and sound effects from Super Smash Bros. Buying it immediately enhanced the listening experience with these small speakers, and for the right price, I'd recommend it to someone else for that, too. (I paid $50 at a pawn shop, which was a no-brainer)

It plays loud nicely, but if you play it /absurdly/ loud, it will get boomy. This hasn't been an issue for me in actual listening, only when I purposefully turned the sub up beyond a good mesh for the speakers to see how loud it would go. So while it may do that, it's negligible in all the actual ways I use this sub. (And I do like to listen loud.)

It's also definitely only for bookshelf speakers. My Klipsch floorstanders (Synergy F-20) play lower and stronger into the bass frequencies than this does, so it wouldn't only not play well, it would sound very unnatural.

As mentioned, I got this for $50 at a pawn shop, and for that, I've been very happy with it. The vinyl wrapping on the front baffle is peeling off (came that way), which obviously imposes no functional problems. With mine pointed into the corner, I don't even see it! I don't know how the last owner (or owners) used it, but it's in perfect functional order as I use it now. Overall, very successful budget sub.

Well i've reviewed before about this product, and yesterday changed the psw-202 to a Monitor Audio ASW-100. Te reason, is simpe, the psw-202 is good made, good quality materials and looks fine, but the sound is a desaster. I don't like it, because is the only sub that reaches to 40 hz, and doesn't have deep bass. And the upper frequencyes interacts whit the main speakers and make the finaly sound very rare. I don't like polk products so much, are ver well made, but the sound doesn't have sense, doesn't have emotion. I really prefer Monitor Audio products. If you want to listen a decent bass the sub that you buy have to reach 35 to 30 hz allmost, if goes down to 25 or 20 hz is better.

It's an economic but good subwoofer, ideal to use in bedrooms for it's dimensions. Is no very loud, but I have a pair of Monitor Audio Bronze B2, and this sub reproduces the lower octaves very well.I'm very happy with it. Oviously there are a lot of better subs, but their prices are very high, specially in Argentina where the electronics is something very expensive. I set the crossover switch at 9 o'clock, the phase at 0 degres and the volume knob at 12 o'clock, and it sounds deep, powerfull and clear.

I bought this sub to compliment my Velodyne CHT-12. The Velodyne is superb except for the fact it plays very, VERY low. Tonally, the Velodyne plays more like a 15” than a 12”. It doesn't have much to offer until the sound falls below 60hz. Obviously that leaves a little to be desired considering my Polk RTi100 towers are crossed over at 80hz. The Polk, as most 10s do, has the opposite problem. It plays higher but fails to reach the lower registers. The PSW202 has much less power than the PSW404 (also 10") but that is just as well because they share the same driver and the driver will blow in the PSW404 if the volume is turned past 50% (seen 4 do this). I prefer the PSW202 to the PSW404 for one reason; it has a much more pure sound than the PSW404 which sounds a little "heavy handed". The PSW404 tends to belt out the notes rather than play them delicately like the PSW202. This is most likely due to the differing amplifier section. I do not like the spring-clip speaker wire connections at all though it is expected for a sub in it's price range. I would much prefer binding posts but I, as well as most of you, am using the "line in" input so the lack of binding posts is really not an issue.

I demoed several models in many different price ranges including Paradigm, Infinity, and even Velodyne's 10 before deciding on the PSW202. All demos were done in my home theater room with the subs in the same location. The PSW202 was definitely not the loudest, that right is reserved for the Velodyne, but it was the cleanest and most accurate. The lack of LOUD didn't matter to me as much as the sound quality. If I want loud, I have the Velodyne 12. As this speaker was only to compliment the Velodyne and to fill the gap (80-60hz) between the Velodyne and the towers, it works wonderfully and I would recommend this arrangement to anyone.

I would not, however, recommend this sub to anyone who needs to run it by itself and has a large listening area. My theater room is 20’x20’ and it will not do a sufficient job filling the room by itself. Also, being only a 10” woofer, it just doesn’t go that low. You will not get that “visceral” low-bass rumble with it. It will not go down below the 40hz range before it falls off completely. My db meter shows a -3db (half volume) drop at 57hz. It will not fill the room completely before clipping; this is likely due to the amplifier’s lower power rating. BUT, if you have a 12” or 15” sub and you are looking to fill the gap in your upper bass register, the PSW202 is the only way to go. The sound is not muddy or heavy handed. It is crisp and clean. One thing to keep in mind, there have been several individuals who have had the sub's amplifier fail. That is most likely because they are running this sub by itself (single sub setup) and had the volume turned up. The amplifier has no heat-sinks so it gets hot quick when it’s running hard. I must also stress the importance of quality subwoofer cables. You absolutely must use Monster Cable. You WILL hear a difference especially with a sub that has the clarity of the PSW202.